Up And Down And Back Again
by bellerophon
Summary: Edge and Christian had a life before the WWE. They were teenagers once, too.
1. Default Chapter

TITLE: Up And Down And Back Again (Prologue/6)

AUTHOR: Bellerophon

EMAIL: bellerophon_666@hotmail.com

DISCLAIMER: I don't own them. Please don't sue me. Song lyrics (Up And Down And Back Again) are by Powderfinger.

DISTRIBUTION: If anyone wants it, just let me know. It can be found on fanfiction.net.

RATING: PG

SUMMARY: Edge and Christian's childhood. Kind of.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I don't know where Edge and Christian are supposed to have come from. I guessed Toronto. That's one of the few places I know of in Canada. I lost my atlas at school three months ago. I'm not sure where I am right now. Anyways, here's the beginning of my fictional history of Edge and Christian.

__

Come and rescue me

From the waters deep

Careful now don't lose your aim

The road ahead is clear again

I haven't found it yet

1985 Toronto Canada

The two boys sat upstairs, trying to ignore the vicious shouting echoing from their parents downstairs.

"You're never home anyway!"

"You ungrateful shrew, is it any wonder? I come home and you bitch at me! Nag, nag, nag!"

"You leave me at home all day to take care of the boys! It's not a problem with Edge but Christian? Your son is inpossible to deal with! He needs medication or something!"

"Leave Chris out of this and he's your son too!"

Edge flinched. He might've only been eleven years old but he could still tell this was a serious fight. They never got so mean before. He just wished his mom would leave Christian out of it. It wasn't Chrissy's fault he got so crazy sometimes. He was just like that. "Come here, Chris."

Christian was staring obstinately out the door down off the balconey. His eyes were brimming over. He wiped his eyes and backed away from the door to Edge. He crawled onto the bed and huddled up next to Edge.

"Come on, Chris, under the blanket," Edge pulled the blanket over Christian's head to try and block out the sounds from downstairs. Christian was only nine but he could still hear.

"I hate Mom," Christian sniffed as he settled down.

"No, you don't." Edge wrapped an arm around Christian. 

"Yes, I do. And she hates me too." Christian sniffed again. "She's always mean to me."

"Sometimes, I think you scare her when you start being all weird. She doesn't know how to make you stop." Edge squeezed his brother, trying to reassure him. "But she doesn't hate you."

Christian didn't say anything. They listened to the sound of footsteps coming up the stairs. "Christian? Edge?" They heard their father's voice. "Any boys hiding under that blanket?"

Christian burst out. "Dad!" He ran to his dad and hugged his leg. "Are you and Mom done fighting?"

His dad ruffled his blonde hair. "Yeah, Chris, we're done fighting." He hunkered down and looked Christian in the eye. "I have to go away for a while."

Christian frowned and shifted from foot to foot. "Why?"

Edge stayed silent. He knew why his dad was leaving.

"Because your mother and I are going to live in different houses from now on." His dad sighed. "I'm moving far away."

"Can I come too?" Christian asked.

"You need to stay here and go to school, Chris." Edge watched his father try and break the news gently to his adoring son.

"I'll leave school, I don't need to go anymore," Christian kept trying. "The teachers keep saying they can't teach me anyway."

"You're nine years old, Christian." His dad smiled at him. "I don't think you're allowed to leave school yet."

"I'm nine and a half, Dad." Christian persisted. "I'll be ten soon. Can I come then?"

"I'm sorry, Chrissy," his dad said. "You have to stay here with your mother."

"Mom doesn't want me here. I heard her say so."

His dad frowned and pulled Christian close. "You behave for your mother. None of your silly games, Christian. And your mother does want you here. She just gets angry sometimes."

"But you said we were going to a hockey game," Christian tried again. 

"Hockey's off, son," his dad looked over at Edge. "Look after your brother, Edge. Your mother, well, just look after him for me."

Edge nodded. His father beckoned to him to come closer. Edge slipped off the bed and joined his brother and dad in a hug. It was warm and safe and Edge felt tears come when he thought of his dad leaving. There wouldn't be any more hugs like this.

"You boys be good." His dad stood up and let go of them. He walked to the door and stopped, looking back at the two of them. "Watch out for each other." And he walked away, down the stairs and out the door.

"Why was Dad saying all that stuff? He wasn't really leaving, was he?" Christian asked, confused. He was childishly disturbed by his father's behaviour. It was weird. He tried to shake away the bad feeling in his stomach as he hid under the blanket again.

Edge pulled the blanket off himself, and walked quietly to the window. He looked out and sighed. He thought this might happen. Christian would never understand. "I think Dad's leaving for good, Chris." He looked back to see Christian peeking out from under the blanket. 

"Why? Where's he going?" Christian pouted as he looked up at him. 

Frowning, Edge turned away from the scene outside. His mother standing fuming in the driveway, his father backing out in his car, probably to never return. He'd forget about them. Him and Chris were going to travel the world, maybe even be wrestlers or somerthing, and then they'd never have to sit upstairs in their room and listen to their parents fight ever again.

"Edge, where's Dad going?" Christian asked more insistantly. 

Edge sat on the bed next to his younger brother. He hoped Christian wouldn't have another temperamental fit, and attract the attention of their mother. She was so angry at the moment and he had keep Christian from provoking her more. "He's leaving. He's going and he's not coming back."

Christian just frowned. "Yes, he is. Dad promised to take me the next hockey game. He promised."

"That deadbeat father of yours is full of crap, Christian." A sharp voice came from the doorway.

The two brothers turned and saw their mother framed in the doorway. "When's Dad coming back, Mom?" Christian asked in a trembly voice. He didn't like his mom sometimes. She said mean things to him and yelled at him.

"He's not coming back and don't get into one of your moods about it." His mom said in her nasty voice. 

"It's your fault he left. You're always mean to him," Christian whispered, hoping his mom wouldn't hear him. Mom was always mean to him too.

"Well, maybe he deserves it. Your father is plain loser and I hope to god he doesn't come back."

Edge was just sitting on the bed not saying anything, nothing at all to defend their dad. Christian glared at his mom. "He is so coming back! He's gonna come back and take me away from you."

Edge could see his mom getting angrier and angrier. "Mom, Chris is just..."

"Christian is just a naughty little boy who doesn't understand anything at all." His mom glared back at Christian. "You'll never see your father again and just my luck that he wouldn't take you with him." Then she stormed out of their room and slammed the door behind her.

Edge looked down then heard it. That low angry noise that came from the back of Christian's throat. He grabbed his brother before Chris could really get wound up. "Calm down, Chrissy," he ordered. Christian ignored him and began muttering to himself and wriggling around on the bed. Edge did the only thing he could think of doing. He put Christian in the Sleeper hold. 

Even if he didn't do it right, Christian still pretended to feel the effects. He tried to break out of it and began struggling slower and slower. No matter what was going on, they would always play this game. Edge grinned and kept him in the hold. "Think about when we'll be wrestling partners and we can be tag team champions."

Christian stopped twisting around and hung his head. He couldn't stop the thoughts that were bothering him."I wish Mom loved me like she loves you."

Edge didn't know what to say to that. He just kept talking. "We'll be on TV and everything. Chrissy, can you imagine it?"

For a second he thought Christian wasn't going to answer. But then Edge heard his soft voice.

"Yeah." Christian hid his face in Edge's arm. "Then I won't care about Mom or anyone else. It'll just be me and you."

Edge smiled even thought Chris couldn't see it. "You and me, bud. You and me."

********


	2. 1.

TITLE: Up And Down And Back Again (1/6)

AUTHOR: Bellerophon

EMAIL: bellerophon_666@hotmail.com

DISCLAIMER: I don't own them. Please don't sue me. Song lyrics (Up And Down And Back Again) are by Powderfinger.

DISTRIBUTION: If anyone wants it, just let me know. It can be found on fanfiction.net.

RATING: PG

SUMMARY: Edge and Christian's childhood. Kind of.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I don't know where Edge and Christian are supposed to have come from. I guessed Toronto. That's one of the few places I know of in Canada. I lost my atlas at school three months ago. I'm not even sure where I am right now. Anyways, here's my fictional history of Edge and Christian.

__

You drift away so slow

In the ebb and flow

So I landed on my feet

The steadiness is bittersweet

It feels the same when you're pushed

Out and away and into the crush

~7 years later, 1992~

"And pens down. Time is up, please pass your papers to the front."

Edge yawned and rubbed his eyes. That test had been harder than he expected. And maybe studying so late hadn't been a good idea, but he really wanted to ace chemistry. He passed up his paper and gathered his things together. A bell rang, indicating the end of the period.

Leaving the classroom, Edge was joined by a fellow student, Sarah. She was one of the cheerleaders and was also very, very cute. Edge had been trying to find the right way to ask her to be his date to the school dance for quite a while now.

"Hey, Edge. How hard was that test?" She flipped her hair over her shoulder and giggled. "What am I saying? You'll definitely ace it."

Edge ducked his head and grinned. "I don't know..."

"You so will. You're so smart," Sarah smiled up at him. "And don't forget you have football training this afternoon. I, uh, the cheerleaders were all coming to watch."

"Sure thing. I wouldn't forget." Edge cleared his throat, "So I was thinking that maybe we could, you know, go to..."

"Isn't that your brother?" Sarah interrupted Edge and gestured with disdain past him.

Edge looked over his shoulder and frowned when he saw Christian being led from one of the other science labs by a teacher. "Yeah," Edge sighed. It appeared that Christian was in trouble. Again. 

Christian was being yelled at by one of the science teachers, Mr Bryson. And it didn't look like he appreciated it. Mr Bryson was gesturing wildly and Christian gave him a wild gesture in return before stomping off, ignoring the yelling teacher he left behind. Edge felt a bit bad, but he really hoped Christian didn't see him and come over.

Unfortunately, Christian spotted him straight away and was heading right for him. Edge could practically feel the disgust radiating off Sarah. Well, this would be an interesting situation. Christian hated Edge's friends and Edge's friends hated Christian. Both parties were spectacularly blunt about it too.

"Oh my god, he's coming over here." Sarah frowned. "I don't know how you can possibly be related to that waste of space."

"Well, if it isn't Mr School Spirit and one of his groupies." Christian came over and stood before them. "Dude, I need to talk to you." He eyed Sarah and rolled his eyes. "Alone."

"We were actually in the middle of a conversation." Sarah crossed her arms. "Why don't you take a number. Better yet, take a suicide pill."

Christian sneered at the cheerleader. "Don't you have a lobotomy to attend?"

Sarah narrowed her eyes at Christian and wrinkled her nose. "Whatever."

When Christian sniggered at the airhead response, Sarah's face soured even more. "Look, Edge, I have elsewhere to be. Why don't you give me a call when this loser isn't around." Then she looked Christian up and down haughtily before flouncing off.

Christian stared after her, contempt evident on his face. "Congratulations, Edge, you've reached an all time low. You're now being chased by some one with the IQ of a goldfish."

"I was about to ask that goldfish to be my date to the school dance."

That made Christian smirk and shake his head. "Allt time low, Edge. All time low."

Edge sighed "Don't talk to me about all time lows. I saw you being escorted from your class, again. What did you do this time?" 

"I kinda set one of the desks on fire." Christian saw the look on Edge's face and hurriedly continued. "I didn't even mean to. It was a total accident. All I did was spill some stuff on the desk and on some books. Not my fault if the bunsen burner fell over and set the whole fucking mess alight."

"I bet Mr Bryson didn't see things that way."

"Not exactly, no." Christian scratched his cheek and rushed through his next statement quietly. "I got suspended."

"Again!?" Edge was cut off as a crowd of students walked past. He struggled to stay with Christian. "What are you going to tell Mom this time?" Christian didn't answer. "You are going to tell Mom. Right?"

Christian just shrugged and walked past him.

"Where are you going, Christian?" Edge shouldered through the crowd. 

"This guy Jeep knows can get me a ride to the Wailing Axe concert tonight," Christian shouted over his shoulder. Edge pushed against the swarming students to follow his brother out of the building.

"Have you asked Mom?"

Christian reached the parking lot and spun around. "Give me a break. Do I ever tell her what I'm doing?" He gave Edge a cheeky grin. "Plus, after the whole bomb scare incident, I don't think she's too willing to let me do anything. I'm supposed to be grounded, remember?"

"I keep forgetting, considering you're never actually at home being grounded." Edge frowned. "So what am I supposed to tell Mom when you don't come home until three in the morning?"

"Just tell her I've turned over a new leaf and I'm studying for a test at some preppy girl's house. Hey, just pretend I'm you for a night." Christian hauled on his ripped jacket, ran a hand through his unkempt hair and began walking over to a car that had just sped into the student parking lot.

Edge was going to chase after his younger brother but felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned around to see a group of his friends behind him.

"Forget about him, Edge. Your brother is a total wipeout." One of his friends sneered at Christian's back. Edge nodded reluctantly. There was no point arguing with his friends about Christian. Christian and his friends thought Edge's friends were morons. Christian showed his dislike by vandalising their cars, their lockers, their football gear, their school books, hell, even their football field. That sort of thing didn't make for an amicable relationship between the two groups.

"Hey Edge!" 

Edge looked up to see his brother hanging out the window of the derelict car. 

"If Mom asks, I'm at a jock party puking my guts out and doing a cheerleader. I'm sure that'll make her happy! And could you not mention the suspension thing?"

Various sounds of derision came from the people around him as Christian pulled back into the car as it peeled out of the parking lot. Edge just turned around and began walking back into the school building.

"Man, I don't how you two are related." One of the guys on the team fell in step beside him. "Must be a pain in the ass having him around."

Edge ignored the comments about Christian. "Do we have Math next? Or is it Physics?" He let his problems with Christian drift from his mind and returned to his school of thought which normally involved school work, sports and girls. It was much easier to think about those things.

********

Edge was jolted awake by a loud noise, the piece of paper he was lying face down on sticking to his cheek. He stretched uncomfortably and checked his watch. Man, it was twenty past two in the morning. Edge rubbed his back and decided that next time he wouldn't fall asleep while studying. 

He frowned when he heard noises coming from downstairs. It was Christian, probably coming home from his concert or wherever he'd been. Edge was glad, not for the first time, that he and Christian had had separate rooms for years now. Christian coming home at any hour of night, loud and noisy, occasionally bleeding and bruised, was the last thing he needed in his bedroom.

And there it was. The yelling was starting as their mom confronted Christian about his late night. Edge hoped it wouldn't get too raucous tonight. The last time Christian and Wendy had a big blow out, the neighbours had called the Family Welfare people. 

It had amused Christian to no end to think that the welfare people thought it was a threat to take him away from their mom. He'd laughed in their faces and said she'd probably pay them to take him away. Of course, Wendy had done the about face and pretended she was the perfect mother and Christian was just a teenager making a fuss out of nothing. Yeah, right.

Edge sighed and stood out of his chair. There was no way he was going to get any sleep while his brother and mother were fighting. He quietly left his room and sat on a familiar spot on the stairs. He'd spent many a night watching fights from this spot. He couldn't be seen from downstairs but he could see almost everything happening.

Right now he saw Christian standing in a pose of defiance before his mother, jacket pulled off and lying on the floor. Wendy was the picture of parental anger, hands on her hips, staring accusitively at Christian. 

"I told you, it's none of your business where I was and like you care anyway." Christian spat out. 

"Well, I'm your mother, like it or not, and that makes it my business. Where were you?"

"Fine, you want to know? I went to a concert, got into a fight, beat the guy up, smoked some weed and came home. Oh and before you find out another way, I got suspended for three weeks at school today." Christian crossed his arms, smirking and Edge could almost feel the pleasure Christian got at telling his mother all that.

Wendy just sputtered in outrage for a while before she gathered her wits about her. "That's it, young man. You're grounded."

Edge snorted. Their mother really needed to look outside the conventional when it came to punishing Christian. Being grounded hadn't held him back so far. 

"I'm already grounded, Mom." Christian raised an eyebrow. "For an indefinite amount of time, remember? So you'll need to think of another way to pretend you have some authority over me."

"You obnoxious, selfish brat! How dare you talk to me like that!? I am your mother and I deserve to be treated with respect!" Wendy was absolutely fuming. "Why can't you be more like your brother? Edge never treats me this way."

"That might be because he's a pussy mother's boy." Christian added helpfully. Edge glared at him, even though Christian couldn't see it. That was uncalled for.

"At least Edge is well mannered and popular. I've never met a group more rude, disrespectful or distasteful than those you hang around with." Their mother laughed humourlessly. "I suppose that would make it suitable for you to be friends with them. I realise no self respecting people would want to be friends with you."

"Oh, I'm sorry, Wendy. I'll immediately become your dream child. I'll join the football team, just like Edge. I'll become a book munching, preppy jock who plays the part of the perfect son. I'll turn into a useful member of society, respectable and something you can be proud of." Edge swallowed at the sight of Christian then. For a moment he looked immeasurably desolate. "Don't you get it? I gave up trying to please you years ago. I'll never be good enough anyway."

From his hidden seat, Edge frowned. That wasn't true. He knew deep inside that Christian still held out in some ways for approval from their mother. He still wanted it. He'd just become adept at hiding what he thought was a hopeless cause.

Wendy sneered at Christian, finally striking back one way she knew would be effective. "You'll never amount to anything. You're worthless and useless just like everyone says you are. Edge is twice the person you'll ever be. You've followed in your father's footsteps there."

Christian stared coldly at his mother. "You're a bitch. No wonder Dad left you for someone else. I'd do the same thing if I could."

"Your beloved daddy left you too, Christian. Tell me, has he called you recently? Have you seen him lately? Guess you're not good enough for him either."

Christian flinched at that. Edge watched as his younger brother gathered his bravado and pulled his heavy, oversized jacket back on. "Forget this. I'm outta here." Christian began walking to the fron door.

"Where do you think you're going? Turn your ass around right now, Christian!" Wendy shrieked and stomped her foot. "Don't even think about opening that door!"

Christian responded by opening the door, walking through it and slamming it behind him. Edge hung his head and stood up, walking slowly back to his bedroom. Once he was inside, he slipped his earphones back on and crawled into bed.

He couldn't help but feel sorry for his mom. She obviously had no idea of how to deal with Christian, his temper, his attitude, his moods and his anger towards her. She never really did.

And it seemed that problem was going to blow up in all of their faces soon.

Christian didn't come home for three days. And he was brought home kicking and screaming by the police.

******************


	3. 2.

****

TITLE: Up And Down And Back Again(2/6)

****

AUTHOR: Bellerophon

****

EMAIL: bellerophon_666@hotmail.com

****

CATEGORY: WWE

****

RATING: PG

****

DISCLAIMER: I don't own them. Please don't sue me. Song lyrics (Up And Down And Back Again) are by Powderfinger.

****

DISTRIBUTION: If anyone wants it, just let me know. It can be found at fanfiction.net

****

SUMMARY: Edge and Christian's childhood. Kind of.

****

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I don't know where Edge and Christian are supposed to have come from. I guessed Toronto. That's one of the few places I know of in Canada. I lost my atlas at school three months ago. I'm not sure where I am right now. Anyways, here's my fictional history of Edge and Christian.

__

In all the hidden pleasures you find

In what you're looking for

I hope that you remember that pride 

Comes before a fall

Christian stormed out of the house and down the pavement. He figured he'd be able to stay at one of his friends houses. They'd all been in the same boat at one stage or another. Him coming through through a window at three in the morning wouldn't surprise any of them.

A quick search of his pockets revealed a bag of pot, some papers and a lighter. Christian deftly pulled them out, sat down in the gutter and began rolling some joints up. He lit one up and took a deep pull and thrust the rest in his pocket. That was the shit.

He walked along the road slowly as he smoked. It was nice having a night time walk, the moon lighting up the road eerily. Of course, he couldn't see any stars, their light was blotted out by the lights of the city. But it was a good opportunity for contemplation, walking along with good pot and no one to bother him.

His friggin' mother. God, that bitch would never ever treat him like Edge. He would never be good enough. And his Mom just couldn't understand why he got so angry sometimes, why he got so moody. And it wasn't like she cared, either. He wasn't Edge. Why should she care?

Of course he wasn't as good as Edge. Edge was the perfect son, always working hard at being a respectable member of the community. Of course Mom liked Edge more. Edge was popular with the sort of people who thought vandalism was stupid, who thought drugs were pointless, who passed tests and did charity work. Edge was friends with the people that everyone liked. Edge was the person everyone liked. 

And then there was him, Christian. Unpopular, unfriendly, unhappy. People didn't think he was as smart as Edge. But he was as smart as Edge, if not smarter. He just didn't care about school tests. That didn't matter to anyone else though. To Edge, his mom, to all the popular people at school, if you didn't participate, if you didn't work hard, if you didn't run with the good crowds then you were no one. Didn't matter how fucking smart you were if you weren't wearing the right clothes or didn't act the right way.

Christian took a drag and held it before blowing the smoke into the cold night air. Acting like he did, being friends with the people who was friends with, it had its own set of rules. You did whatever the fuck you wanted to as long as it was destructive and hostile. That suited Christian. Suited the way he felt most of the time. 

Plus, his friends didn't expect anything from him. Didn't expect good friendship that was deep and meaningful and all that crap. They all had their own problems and didn't expect help from anyone else. In reality, they were a group of loners who had banded together. They hung out together and laughed and clowned around. But Christian didn't expect any lifelong 'Stand By Me' friendships from these people.

That was alright though. Christian preferred things that way. Just meant it was easier for him to walk away from them when he needed to. Life was a lot less complicated that way.

********

Laughing, Christian fell through the broken window to the floor below. His friends landed with a thump on top of him. Pushing each other, they stood up and looked around. The school hallways were dark and unlit. But they could see enough to know where they were. And where they were going.

Christian followed his friends down the hallways to the school office. This little nighttime excursion had been his idea, a way of striking back at the authorities who hated him the only way he knew that he could. 

It had been three days since he'd been home. 

Christian shook the spray paint can and looked around for a target. He could hear his friends down the corridor laughing as they smashed something. He glanced up and grinned. Perfect. A full sized head shot of Edge stared down at him. It was up in the honour hall of the school because of some award Edge had won. Mr School Spirit.

Christian sneered and held up the paint can and pressed down. Soon there was just a black mess where Edge's face had been. Christian ignored the urge to tear the photo down and stomp all over it, instead he spray painted all along the hallway.

He came to the headmaster's office where his friends were tearing up papers and breaking things. He dropped the paint can and sat in the leather chair in the middle of the room. Closing his eyes, he listened to the maelstrom of noise around him. Until one of his friends called out to him.

"Hey, Christian! What's this thing in the corner?"

He opened his eyes and and looked to where his friend was indicating. Christian frowned as he eyed the piece of red blinking equipment in the corner of the room. That little light had been green when they broke in. He looked accusatively at his friends who had surrounded him. "Who set off the alarm?"

It was then that Christian and his friends heard the distinctive siren of a police car. 

**********

Christian sighed when he saw Edge's face. His older brother looked a touch pissed off. Of course, Christian was slouched in the doorway surrounded by two policemen with his hands handcuffed behind him.

"What have you done this time?" Christian frowned at the resigned tone of Edge's voice. It sounded like he just expected that Christian would so something like this. "Where have you been? What have you been doing all this time?"

"That's what I would like to know." A slurred voice came from inside the house.

Edge wiped a hand down his face and gave Christian a look. The policewomen at one side entered the house and into the living room were their mother's voice came from. Police were pushy in this city. 

"We caught your brother after he broke onto school grounds and defaced school property." The policeman roughly turned Christian around and began uncuffing him. "We had to handcuff him for resisting arrest. If we chose to, we could also press charges for assaulting several officers.

"Really." Edge gave Christian a look. "Well, thanks for bringing him home."

Another loud cry sounded out from inside their house. The policeman raised an eyebrow. "Would you like to go check on your mother?"

"Not really." Christian muttered but Edge reached out and pulled him inside. All three entered the living room and had differing reactions to the sight before them. The policeman rolled his eyes, having seen it meny times before. Edge sighed and sat down heavily, obviously very tired. Christian burst into laughter.

Wendy was lying fully stretched on their couch, a bottle on the floor next to her. She was gesturing wildly and drunkenly, not realising that she was knocking ash all over herself from the cigerette in her hand.

"Edge is such a good boy, I just don't understand how Christian went so wrong." She was being comforted by the policewoman who had also dragged Christian home.

Christian stared at his weeping mother incredulously. "Is she drunk?" He looked back at Edge with malicious laughter in his eyes. "It's like eight in the morning."

"Yeah, I know." Edge looked like shit, now that Christian was looking. "She's been a bit crazy the last few days."

"And people say that I'm the bad influence on you." Christian shook his head and made a 'tsk' noise. "Maybe I should get the welfare people back again."

Edge frowned at Christian. "This isn't a joke, Christian. Look what you've done this time."

"I know," Christian fake pouted. "I made Mom cry. I vandalised school property, more specifically, your butt ugly face. I got arrested. I'll probably be expelled." Laughing, he pointed at their mom. "I turned Mom into an alcoholic."

Edge scowled at Christian. "Do you give a fuck at all about your life?"

"Uh..." The policeman cleared his throat. "Before you start your family discussion, I'd just like to inform you of the consequences of your actions."

Christian smirked. "Inform away, my good man."

Eyeing Christian in disdain, the policeman pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket and began reading. "We've talked to the school authorities, Christian. They've agreed not to press charges, however you have been expelled and been banned from being within a hundred feet of school grounds. Should you come within school grounds, the school will be reconsidering pressing charges." The policeman finished reading and looked up. "Do you understand?"

Christian rolled his eyes and muttered sarcastically. "No, I don't understand. I've only been speaking English since I was two."

"He understands." Edge cut in. "Thanks for your help." 

"You've gotten off lightly, young man. Don't make the mistake of thinking you'll get away with this sort of behaviour again."

"He won't." Edge smiled politely and stood up, indicating for the policeman to leave.

Christian frowned and felt the familiar anger rise at his brother. Edge was always doing that, always being responsible and making him look stupid. He glared at the police officers as they stood and left before turning back to Edge.

"Now you're even sucking up to pigs." He sneered nastily. "Fuck, Edge, is there anyone who doesn't like you?"

"Apparently there's one person." Edge muttered before walking away up the stairs. He only got halfway up before he heard Wendy start talking angrily. Pausing, he looked back and saw her stumble towards Christian. 

"Hey, the drunk can still walk." Christian sniggered.

"You little upstart brat. How dare you treat me like this?" Wendy slurred.

"Well, it's actually really easy when you act like a washed up, drunken, whore." Christian spat out. He heard Edge's intake of breath and knew before she began speaking, that his mother would not like being called those names. But he didn't think she would be as angry as she was.

"Get out," she whispered. 

Christian frowned. "Fine. Let me grab my wallet at least."

Wendy shook her head and gestured to the door in drunken anger. "I want you out of my house for good. Pack your bags and get out!"

"...but..." Christian couldn't believe she was actually kicking him out. She wasn't allowed to do that, even if she was pissed as a newt. She was his mother, she was supposed to take care of him. But then again, mothers were supposed to love their children no matter what and she had shown no indication of ever loving him.

"Mom, don't..." Edge trailed off when their mom began yelling again.

"You're no good! You'll destroy Edge just like you destroyed yourself, you bastard!" Wendy kept stepping closer to Christian who was frozen in wide eyed shock. "You're a deadbeat! You're an idiotic fool! You're nothing to me, you hear?! Nothing!"

Christian swallowed back the lump in his throat. He found his voice and began speaking, trying to ignore the cracks in his voice. "Figures, *Mom*. It's always easier to throw someone out than deal with the problem. That's why Dad left, isn't it? Except he didn't want to leave. You made him leave! You drove him away!"

"Don't talk to me about your father. That man was the worst mistake I ever made."

"Dad was a better person than you'll ever be. He's lucky he got out when he did," Christian laughed bitterly. "Maybe I wouldn't be so screwed up if it wasn't for you, Mom. Did you ever think of that?"

His bitter voice was silenced when his mother slapped him sharply, making his head turn hard and leave his cheek stinging.

"I don't want to hear it! I don't want to hear your pathetic excuses! Get your things and leave!"

Christian touched his cheek where Wendy slapped him. She'd never *ever* hit him before. Struggling to hold back the tears, he gave a humourless smile. "I don't want anything from this house." Then he turned and walked out, stopping only to grab his jacket, before closing the door behind him.

Pausing for a moment, Christian heard his mom break down into sobs. Wiping his eyes, he refused to cry at all for her. She wasn't worth it anymore. He took off from the balcony at a dead run.

He was going to find his dad and be part of a family that actually cared about him.

********


End file.
